Seven weekend sports stories you probably missed

The Deseret News publishes its premier sports content over the weekend, but those who don't subscribe to the newspaper usually miss out on some of the Deseret News' best work.

On Saturday, Jan. 26, BYU, Utah State and the Jazz all hit the hardwood. The Jazz overcame a late-game collapse that sent their contest into overtime and an eventual win.

The Aggies, however, were not so lucky. Despite holding their opponents to one field goal during the final eight minutes of the game, the Aggies dropped their fourth straight game and their second in the Spectrum.

Meanwhile, BYU proved to the WCC once again its strength in terms of fan support. When BYU visited Portland to take on the Pilots, there were more than a few BYU supporters in attendance.

Also, Kearns hosted the World Sprint Championships, an international speed-skating competition featuring the best skaters in the world.

If you missed out, take notice. Here are seven sports articles from this last weekend you might have missed but probably shouldn't have.

Editor's note: In sports, character is not often defined when an athlete gets a victory. Character is defined when one must grapple with the realities of a loss. As Amy Donaldson reports, Brittany Bowe is one athlete who had to grapple with disappointment and came out all the better for it.

KEARNS — Frustration was evident on Brittany Bowe's face as she skated toward her coach after a miscue with another skater cost her time and a likely podium finish at the World Sprint Championships on Sunday afternoon.

"I had a decent opener and my first lap felt really good," said Bowe, a former in-line skater who took up long track speedskating last year. "It was the fastest lap I've had in competition thus far and going into that out lane, after the finish line, I was still picking up speed and carrying my speed really well." That's when the only other athlete on the ice, Karolina Erbanova, crossed in front of her, essentially cutting her off as she moved from the inside to the outside lane.

"I kind of had to pull back and stand up a little bit," she said. "But that's racing. ... It's really unfortunate, and I’m upset about it. But at the same time, I've got to be happy for my teammate because she just won the overall World Sprint Championship."

Editor's note: Colin Kaepernick went from relative obscurity to the center of the spotlight in a mere month's time. When Alex Smith went down with a concussion, Kaepernick took complete advantage of the opportunity, wresting the starting position from the former No. 1 draft pick and Ute standout. Randy Hollis explains why Smith deserves what he calls a "Drew Bledsoe" moment.

There's no denying that Colin Kaepernick is a tremendous talent, a dynamic double-threat quarterback who has a rocket-launcher for an arm and a guy who often makes opposing defenses pay because he can run like a deer, too.

He's got the San Francisco 49ers playing for the Super Bowl championship a week from today, and it'd be pretty darned difficult to argue with the 49ers' decision "to go with the guy who's got the hot hand."

That's the way San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh sized things up back in November, when he was weighing his options after Kaepernick's impressive performance in his first NFL start, a 32-7 victory over the Chicago Bears.

Editor's note: Ziggy, Ziggy, Ziggy. The Beehive state just cannot get enough of former BYU defensive lineman and upcoming NFL draft prospect Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah. Ansah and, lest we forget, USU cornerback Will Davis both performed in the Senior Bowl over the weekend, and both had very strong performances.

In a game where individual performances are everything, local stars Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah and Will Davis gave it their all.

In Ansah's case, it seems he upped the ante with NFL scouts and may have solidified himself as a first-round draft pick.

At the 2013 Senior Bowl, the former BYU defensive end put together a terrific performance. He finished with seven tackles, 1½ sacks and a forced fumble, leading the South to a 21-16 win over the North.

Editor's note: The Jazz were demolished by the recently resurgent L.A. Lakers, and they collapsed in the final minutes of Saturday's game, but thanks to clutch free-throw shooting and a monster overtime period by Al Jefferson, the Jazz came out ahead on Saturday night. Here are a few extras from that game.

Just 21 hours after losing in disappointing fashion, the Utah Jazz bounced back to earn a hard-fought victory over the Indiana Pacers. In a game that was full of dramatics, including an overtime period, the Jazz dug deep enough to come out on top, 114-110.

The Jazz coughed up a late eight-point lead on some bizarre plays in regulation, but redeemed themselves in the overtime to win on the second of a back-to-back game.

There was certainly not a dearth of stellar performances by both teams. For the Utah Jazz, their veteran front court pair of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap led the way. The duo combined to go 19 of 33 from the field, combining for 46 points. While their rebounding was subpar, the rest of their games were on target.

Editor's note: Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Utah State was starting to get some national poll votes, but after losing four straight games and their two best players, the Aggies are simply treading water. Their loss on Saturday does not diminish USU's defensive and rebounding effort, both of which were stellar in this match.

LOGAN — The Utah State Aggies may be undermanned for the rest of the season, but don’t expect them to quit fighting. Against WAC-leading Louisiana Tech on Saturday, the Aggies erased a 13-point halftime deficit before coming up just short in a 51-48 defeat.

The loss was USU’s fourth in a row and marks the first time under head coach Stew Morrill that the Aggies have dropped four consecutive games. The last time that happened was in 1994.

Morrill was critical of some players' effort Thursday night in a loss to UT Arlington, but could find no fault in the energy level from his squad against the Bulldogs.

BYU fans, including former great Jeff Chatman, show strong support in Portland

Editor's note: It's common knowledge that BYU has one of the strongest national fan bases in the country, but rarely do we learn anything about BYU fans who live outside the Wasatch Front. It turns out that a former Cougar hoops star, Jeff Chatman, lives 15 miles north of Portland, and he went to BYU's game last week.

PORTLAND, Ore. — One of the many blue-clad fans that attended Saturday's BYU-Portland game at the Chiles Center was Jeff Chatman.

For the former Cougar star, who played in Provo from 1985-88, it was great to have BYU play near his home in Ridgefield, Wash., which is about 15 miles north of Portland.

"It's always very exciting to have BYU come to Portland," Chatman said before the game. "It makes it easy to take most of the family out to the game. When BYU joined the (West Coast Conference), we knew it was going to be really exciting for us to watch them every year."

Brad Rock: Playing on Sunday is part of Utah Utes deal to play in Pac-12

Editor's note: One of the strings that comes attached to Pac-12 membership is the fact that the school's athletic teams occasionally have to play on Sunday. In a state with a predominant LDS culture, some might say that playing on Sunday betrays the local culture and customs as well as the history of the University of Utah itself. Brad Rock says Ute fans who take exception to Sunday play will simply have to get over it — it's what they asked for.

SALT LAKE CITY — A few weeks ago, an LDS acquaintance told me he liked my columns and read them regularly. He added, though, that he seldom reads my articles on Sunday because the material gets him "too worked up."

He doesn't need the angst.

In that case, he might want to skip today's column, too, because I'm going to talk about Sunday college basketball games. My take is this: Live with it. It's what Ute fans asked for.